Fantasy RPGs have all kind of moved to MMORPGs. The rest are all button masher console games, mostly. It's tough to find a PC based, single player fantasy game anymore. Dragon Age II is currently filling my need there.

However if you are willing to give in and shell out 15 dollars a month, it sounds like you would enjoy a good MMO. It is essentially like playing Dragon Age but in huger worlds and with other players running around.

You don't have to play cooperatively. You can, and some do, live their entire game lives solo. However, these games are definitely most fun when played with friends (in real life or met online) and you team up to go and do things you would never survive on your own.

Lately, I've been trying RIFT and thoroughly enjoying it. However, I maintain my Everquest II account because that is where my real life friends play. I have the most fun with them on our arranged nights and I tend to just solo if they are not on. I'm not overly social in the game at all outside my friends but I do belong to a guild in EQ II and I'll always help out my guildies if they call.

Be glad to meet you in game and show you the ropes if your interested. Of the two, Rift is more fun for new players but EQ II has the more mature crowd and has been around a long time so the world is IMMENSE and there are more features built in. I just suggest avoiding WoW. I find the age group of players to be very young and thus the accepted behavior of the players is just plane rude and annoying for an old school MMO player like me. Rift is not bad for this either. The annoying people, of all ages, always try out the latest and greatest games but always gravitate back to WoW. Which is fine for me.

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With great power comes Awesome irresponsibility.

Dean. It sounds like you and I play games for different reasons. I've been playing DA on hard and may try DA2 on extreme now that I've got the hang of the game.

Murph. Sounds like a place for me to avoid unless I want to turn into a 400lb gaming couch potato. Seriously, DA has sucked up a lot more time than I wanted it to.

I'll check Witches out Cam.

Still stuck with the @#**!***@ landloard John. I thought I might have found a condo, but the fees were high and there was an additional assessment coming for 'improvements'. I have no need to jump from the frying pan into the fire.

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Fred

-------Blujays1: Spending Fred's money one bottle at a time, no two... Oh crap!

I had a 3 day weekend so I broke down and picked up Dragon Age 2 while shopping at Wally-World. I’ve only just finished the 1st act but I sure am glad I got it.

Pretty much every complaint I had about DA: Origins is taken care of in DA: 2. The graphics are so much better it’s like a completely difference generation of game. The main character has a voice. The dialog options are easier, streamlined and more intuitive. The maps are easier to read. The inventory system streamlined, with miscellaneous loot going straight to the junk pile. Less loot dropped reducing the running around and grabbing it and having to sell it all the time.

So far only 2 minor quibbles about the game, having to find a kiosk to change party members, and no central location like the camp where all party member hang out. I call them minor because I seldom change party members, only doing so when the quest requires it, and only talk to them for their companion quests, though romance may become another factor now that I’m in act 2. It also took me a bit to realized that each city location had a night and day setting so I was stuck trying to figure out how to progress a quest until I realized this, but no problem with it now.

If you’ve played ME: 1 and liked the changes made in ME: 2 (ok not the mining) then then consider this 10 times better than that. Everything about this version of DA is makes the game more immersive, playing out more like an interactive movie similar ME: 1 & 2. Special kudos go to the change in the dialogue which gives more information than just “paragon” and “rogue” in ME. The icons show other info like money options.

This first play-through I made Hawk a Female Mage/Healer so I could have an all-female party with a Mage/healer, Mage/damager, Warrior/tank, and Rogue/dual-wield. However most of the time I play the Isabel character because the Rogue just seems more fun. I’m not that great at twitch-fest style games so I’ve stayed on “normal” difficulty which still got me killed quite often in DA: origins just because I found it hard to see what was going on with the crappy graphics. So far in DA: 2, I’ve only had to restart 3 times and easily won by switching between characters to optimize the Mage’s attacks.

Though I’m still early in the game this one seems like a must have if you like Roleplay or even Third Person Shooters games.

Thanks for the review Dean. I was somewhat hesitant to give this game a second chance after playing the demo. The game looked beautiful and felt smooth, but I just felt like it was too "action-y" and less "RPG-y" compared to dragon age origins. I'll probably buy a used copy through amazon when I have a little more free time and the price drops a little more.

Thanks for the review Dean. I was somewhat hesitant to give this game a second chance after playing the demo. The game looked beautiful and felt smooth, but I just felt like it was too "action-y" and less "RPG-y" compared to dragon age origins. I'll probably buy a used copy through amazon when I have a little more free time and the price drops a little more.

I think they have come up with a good balance of Action vs RPG in that you can sort of make it both. Keep the difficulty to normal and the action while challenging is not overwhelming allowing more focus on the RPG elements. However, crank up the difficulty and I imagine the action becomes much more of the challenge.

I also like that the quest are subdivide into “Main,” “Secondary,” “Side,” and “Companion.” So far it seems that only the Main and some of the Secondary are required so this first play-through I’m bypassing most of the Secondary and Side Quests so they will be fresh on subsequent play-throughs.

Another nice touch I forgot to mention is that you can “fast travel” to locations within locations. So rather than being deposited at the gate of the city you can pop right to your house if you want, making it much easier than running back and forth across Orzammar 20 times just to finish a required quest.

Also, the locations of the next step of each quest shows up on both the fast travel map and the local map making it very easy to find what you are looking for. I really have to give them kudos for making the interface as helpful and unobtrusive as I think is possible. As I mentioned before it really helps the suspension of disbelief, which IMO is a major plus on the RPG side. It is certainly more scripted than something like Elder Scrolls, or Fallout 3 but I think it make up for that in keeping things simplified, and thus more playable w/o micro-management.

About the only other thing I can think of right now that they might have done better, more on par with ME: 1 & 2 is the audio ambiance. ME really makes you feel (by the sound) that you are in a spaceship, club scene, etc. . ., the same with Elder Scrolls Oblivion. Though the audio is good in that sounds track 360 like they should the ambience just isn’t up to those other two.

The only tip I have to give to you is enhance the skills you have first, rather than learning new ones. Pay attention to how they chain together with other classes. If you don't do that, you'll end up with boss fights you can't win without great luck.